Dispenser for collapsible tubes



Patented Sept. 11, 1951 DISPENSER FOR COLLAPSIBLE TUBES Henry A.Ditmanson, Klamath Falls, reg., as-

signor of fifty per cent to Leo C. Sheppler,

Klamath Falls, Oreg.

Application December 19, 1947, Serial No. 792,755

3 Claims. Cl. 222102) This invention relatesto new and usefulimprovements in dispensers and the primary object of the presentinvention is to provide a dispenser including novel and improved meansfor supporting and squeezing a collapsible tube in order to eject thepaste contained therein.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide adispenser for collapsible tubes such as tubes of tooth paste, shavingcream, soap and the like, including a pair of rotatable gripping rollersand novel and improved means for adjusting one of said rollers relativeto said other roller, whereby tubes of various sizes may be appliedbetween the said rollers.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a dispenserincluding means for guiding the closed end portion of a tube to adischarge opening.

A still further aim of the present invention is to provide a dispenserfor collapsible tubes that is small and compact in structure, simple andpractical in construction, strong and reliable in use, neat andattractive in appearance, relatively inexpensive to manufacture, andotherwise well adapted for the purposes for which the same is intended.

Other objects and advantages reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, wherein likenumerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of the dispenser constructed inaccordance with the present invention, and showing the same in use;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view taken substantiallyon the plane of broken section line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken substantially onthe plane of section line 3-3 of Figure 2; and,

Figure 4 is a longitudinal horizontal sectional view taken substantiallyon the plane of section line 4-4 of Figure. 2.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, wherein for the purpose ofillustration, there is disclosed a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, the numeral I0 represents the housing used in conjunctionwith the present invention generally, comprising a pair of spaced sidewalls I2, an arcuate upper wall [4, an arcuate lower wall [6, and arounded end wall IS. The upper wall l4 and lower wall l6 are turnedoutwardly adjacent the open end 20 of the housing to provide anattaching flange 22 that receive counter sunken fasteners 24 forremovably securing the housing relative to a supporting structure suchas a wall surface or the like 26'.

Opposed longitudinal guide slots or grooves 28 are provided in the innerfaces of the side walls l2 and slidably engage the side'edges of a pairof inner arms 30 that are connected at their outer ends by integralcross bars 32, and the side edges of a pair of spaced parallel outerarms 34, that are connected at their outer ends by an integral cross bar36.

The adjacent inner ends of the arms 30 and 34 are provided with notchesor recesses 38 and 46 that rotatably support a driven shaft 42 and adrive shaft 44. Fixed on the driven shaft 42, is a corrugated or tootheddriven roller 46 that opposes a complementary corrugated drive roller 48that is fixed on the drive shaft 44, These rollers 46 and 48 oppose, atube receiving opening 50 provided in the lower wall 16 of the housingl8.

. Receivably engaging an internally threaded aperture 52 provided in theend wall 18, that aligns the groove 28, is an externally threadedadjusting rod 54, the inner end 56 of which frictionally engages thecross bar 36 for selective adjustment of the drive roller relative tothe driven roller. A knurled surface finger gripping knob 58 fixedlycarried by the outer end 60 of the rod 54, facilitates the convenientadjustment of the rod within the aperture 52. One end 62 of the driveshaft 42 projects outwardly from one of the side Walls l2, and isslidably mounted in a substantially vertical notch or slot 64- providedin said side wall. A knurled surface finger receiving knob 66 is fixedlycarried by the end 62, for rotating the drive shaft.

The inner face of the upper wall I4 is provided with an arcuatelynotched portion 68 that opposes the driven roller 46. An arcuateresilient guide strip 18 has one end 12 fixed in said notch portion 68,and the opposite end 14 of said guide strip frictionally engages atransverse recess 16 provided in the lower wall I6, adjacent the opening50.

In practical use of the device, the stiff metal edge or closed end 18 ofa collapsible tube is extended between the rollers 46 and 48, and therod 54 adjusted so that by rotating the roller 48 in one direction, theroller 46 will rotate in an opposite direction and the end 18 of thetube will be forced intothe housing, and the contents 82 in the tube 80will be ejected from the nipple 84 of the tube to a brush or the like 86disposed therebeneath. Upon continued rotation of the drive roller, theend 18 of the tube 80 will frictionally engage the guide strip H! tofollow the contour of said guide strip loosely about the driven roller46, whereby when the contents of the tube are completely removed, therod 54 may be loosened so that the end 18 of the tube 80 may be pulleddownwardly to remove the tube 89 from the housing 10.

In view of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings it is believed that a clear understanding of thedevice will be quite apparent to those skilled in this art. A moredetailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shownand described a preferred embodiment of theJinvention the'same issusceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of .theinvention as herein described and the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the'inventionfwhat'is claimed as new is:

-1. A dispenser for collapsible tub'e's comprising a housing open at oneend and having a lower wall, an attaching flange carried by the open endof said housing, a'tube receiving opening provided in the lower wallof-said housing, a slidable roller support mounted with said housing, adriven shaft journaled for rotation on said support, a toothed drivenroller fixed on said driven shaft, a further support slidably mountedwith said housing, a-drive-shaf-t journal'ed for rotationon said furthersupport, a toothed drive roller fixed on said drive shaft andopposingsaid driven'roller, means for selectively adjusting said drive rollerrelative to-said driven roller, said slidable roller support including asubstantially U- shaped member having spaced leg portions and a webportion joining said leg portions-opposed longitudinal recesses providedinthe inner walls of said housing slidably receiving the leg portions ofsaid 'U-shaped 'member, an arcuate spring member mounted in said housingand loosely embracing the driven roller, said housing including an upperwall, a transverse recess provided in the inner face of the upper wallabove the driving roller and receiving one-end of said spring member,and a further transverse recess provided in the inner face-of said lowerwall adjacent the tube receiving opening and receiving the remaining endof said spring member, said spring member closing the open end of saidhousing and adapted to guide the closed end of a tube about the drivenroller and back through the tube receiving opening.

2. A dispenser for collapsible tubes comprising a housing including apair of side walls, an upper wall and a lower wall, said housing beingopen at one end, an opening provided in the lower wall of said housing,opposed longitudinal recesses provided in the inner faces of said sidewalls and having entrances at the open end of said "housing, a pair ofsubstantially U-shaped supports slidably received in said recesses, adriven roller supported solely by one of said supports, a driving rollersupported solely by the remaining of said supports, means threaded onthe housing and connected to said last named support for adjusting saidsupports relative to each other, said supports being removable 'fromsaid housing through the open end thereof, an arcuate guide membermounted in said housing and loosely embracing the driven shaft :forguiding the closed end of a tube about the driven roller and toward theopening in said bottom wall and for closing the open end of saidhousing, and means for rotating said driving roller.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said spring member extends betweenthe leg portions of said U-shaped member and between the web portion ofsaid U-shaped member and said driven roller to limit sliding movement ofsaid U- shaped member.

HENRY A. DITMANSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are o'f-record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PA'I'ENTS Number Name Date 1,200,219 Moxom Oct. 3, .19161,295,433 Chipperfield Feb. '25, 1919 1,787,929 Clark 'Jan. 6, 19311,859,174 Sassano =May 17, 1932 2,194,882 Bamber Mar. 26, 1940

